To Hope to Win
by Murmers of the Dark
Summary: After losing the battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny travel back in time to the summer before fouth year in an attempt to win the war and save everyone close to them. Sticks to cannon, slightly OOC charaters
1. It Begins

Disclaimer: everything belongs to JK Rowling

I love time travel stories but I hate the ones where Harry goes back to first year for some reason, he can't do anything then without arousing suspision x) So I've decided to try one where he can't prevent the war completely (wheres the action in that?) but can change its course for the better.

Chapter 1: Back Again

The first thing he noticed was the pain, worse than the cruciatus curse, worse than anything he'd ever felt before. He couldn't even open his eyes, a blinding light searing into his pupils, and then it was gone.

Breathing heavily, Harry looked around, everything was blurry, but it might just have worked, grasping for his glasses he shoved them hastily onto his face. Looking round, the room was small, the window allowing some light from the nearby streetlamp to filter in and cast huge shadows across the floor. Almost painfully slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light, it had worked, he was back at Privet Drive, for once he was happy, the only time he would ever be glad to see_ this_ room again.

Clothes littered the floor, and stacks of old school books lay in a corner, one side of the room was devoted to the storage of old broken toys, Dudley's uncared and undeserved birthday presents. Looking at his hands, the scar was gone, if they'd got the equations right, he would have to avoid detention with Umbridge. Carving 'I must not tell lies' into his hand was not appealing, hopefully he'd keep his temper this time round, knowing that the truth would come out, one way or another.

And Gin, he hoped she'd made it back alright too, there was no way to tell, he couldn't suddenly start owling her, that would raise more than a few eyebrows. It would be hard to hide their relationship, they'd have to act, _a lot._ Slowly appear to grow closer together. Hopefully he'd be able to meet with her in the house when he was supposedly 'grieving' over Cedric's death. In fact, his acting skills were really going to be put to the test, Sirius would be alive, so would Tonks and Remus and Fred and Ron and Hermione, so would half the people he knew who died in the battle of Hogwarts, he couldn't just rush up to them and hug them for dear life. Heck, half the order was dead, but now, most of the order didn't even know him. Well, apart from the ones on 'Harry Duty' anyway.

Looking round his room, he couldn't help the tears which collected in the edge of his vision, he could fix it, he could save so many more, the war didn't have to go as it had. He'd go to Hogwarts and destroy the horcrux there; he'd destroy the locket as well, go to the department of mysteries at Christmas and kill Nagini before she could even bite Mr Weasley. And destroy the prophesy, he knew it, Voldemort couldn't be allowed to hear it, Sirius would not die because of Dumbledore's mistakes… and his own rash actions.

Getting up of his thin, lumpy mattress, Harry started to rummage through his trunk, he had to check he'd made it to the right year, turning up at the beginning of third year or something wasn't something he could afford. Ginny and he had discussed the year they would return to, first year seemed a bit pointless, and Gin's first year had to stay, it was a horrible ordeal, but it had defined her character, made her so much stronger, they couldn't risk messing something like destroying the diary up either. Not to mention it would be hard to explain why he suddenly started training before Voldemort's resurrection, and they'd have the whole year to learn occlumency, Dumbledore believed he could be possessed at any moment, so never looked in his eyes, he just had to be careful of Snape, he couldn't risk that git finding out what they'd done, what they knew. He'd be glad to have his old mentor back, but even so, he doubted he would ever see Dumbledore in the same light again. The old man had kept too many secrets, been too manipulative, he'd love to enlist his help, but he didn't want to risk Dumbledore messing about, they'd have to keep him out of what they were doing for the most part. Hell, he couldn't walk up to Dumbledore having worked out one of the greatest secrets of the Dark Lord, he'd probably think he'd turned to the dark arts, horcruxes isn't a topic you stumbled across, you had to search, _really search_, it was too much to explain without getting caught or exiled.

Pulling out his old school books, he was relieved to see they were the old forth year books, they _had_ made it back to the correct point in the timeline, well, he had anyway, he hoped Ginny made it back as well, she gave him strength to carry on, to live. Being without the Ginny he knew would be almost unbearable.

Sighing, he turned to look at his clock, it wasn't far past 5am, but no one had barged into the room, no one screaming about a blinding light, and his screams, well, his nightmares had always been an issue. It hadn't been the first time he was woken by his uncle thundering at the door because he woke up screaming. His nightmare where so real, he had more now, nightmares of events which hadn't even occurred, hopefully he wouldn't talk in his sleep anymore, he had a bit, not often, but he muttered the names of the dead in his sleep. Screamed them sometimes, at least Ginny wasn't dead, he'd be hard pressed to explain to Ron why he was yelling her name in his sleep, sharing a room with him, Ron's snoring meant most of his dorm mates never woke to his nightmares. Neville had woken twice at Hogwarts, but the quiet boy was more understanding than most. He'd have to include Neville more, he had been killed trying to destroy Nagini, the last Horcrux of the battle of Hogwarts. That was another thing, he wanted to start the DA up again, the skills he taught them would help them in the war, it probably saved more than just a few lives during the battles, before everyone was forced to flee, before he watched Hermione and Ron perish in the findefire unleashed by Voldemort. Wiping the moisture from his eyes, he sank down into the old chair by his desk. Hedwig was out, either hunting or delivering letters. He didn't know the date, with his luck, he'd probably have the whole month before the order came to rescue him, but now he had time, he had stuff to do. His mail was probably being monitored, and he was being followed when he went outside, moving about would be difficult, but he wanted to train, he had been lucky he hadn't had to duel many death eaters, he could duel quite well for someone his age, but he still couldn't match up to most people.

Ginny and he would have to train themselves, learn to duel, learn to brew healing potions, anything and everything which could help. They even toyed with the idea of becoming an animangus, if he could get books on the subject they would try, the year of hunting for food had made him appreciate just how useful something like that could be, not to mention it would give him a chance to run or fly or hide, maybe fight. It would take a lot of effort, but it would be a huge achievement and help give them an edge. Deciding how much to involve Ron and Hermione was another thing, they couldn't decide what to tell them, but Hermione always ran to a figure of authority, and that was going to prove to be a big issue should they tell her anything, not to mention someone could just read her mind. And Ron, he always meant well, but in the heat of an argument he always yelled the most inappropriate things, for all of Gryffindor Tower to hear, and he had no mind shields either. He and Gin had got better at Occlumency, their shields were weak, but enough to prevent passive legimency, they'd practiced legimency on each other, and learned so much more about each other that they ever thought possible in the process. She knew how the Dursleys treated him, she knew what his old bedroom was like, _she knew_, and strange as it was, that fact was unexpectedly comforting. They had few secrets.

After Ron and Hermione died, he and Gin had run off together, that was before they had a chance to kill the snake, now Tom was even more protective of _it_. Hogwarts had all but been destroyed, if he died Voldemort won, it had to be Harry who killed him, it couldn't be anyone else. How he was supposed to achieve that task was beyond him. But while he had time he would enjoy every last minute of it. He'd always wanted to become an auror, start a family and enjoy life, but that was something he was destined never to have, he had to kill or be killed by a prophesy made before he was even born. He had no child hood, he had nothing but Ginny and the Weasleys, Ginny was his future, if he could survive to live past the finale battle.

Pulling a piece of fresh parchment toward himself and picking up one of his many quills scattered about the floor Harry started to write. It was best not to write a plan down, but he couldn't plan like Hermione, if he didn't write it down he'd miss something, most likely a very important fact too. He had a lot of stuff he wanted to buy.

First he wanted decent clothes, stuff which would actually fit him, buying both magical and muggle clothes so he could blend in no matter where he was. A wand holster would be an invaluable asset as well, and save him vital seconds when trying to remove his wand from his back pocket, not exactly the best place to keep it. He also wanted a magical trunk, one he could store large amounts of items, Moody owned one, his had an actual room in it which you could stay in, if he could afford to purchase one with rooms he would, get one for Ginny as well. Large numbers of books was another thing, Hermione was obsessed with books, but he could see her point, _still_ learning the textbook of by heart was a touch too extreme. He just wanted to focus on topics which would benefit him. A magical tent was another item he needed, although it wasn't needed immediately, the one they used was fine, but a bigger one wouldn't hurt, one with lots of rooms and space, if anything, the smallest luxury was something he would never take for granted. He also wanted an owl, he would never replace Hedwig while she was still alive, but she was too recognisable, the owl would be a birthday present to Ginny, that would be hard to explain, but hopefully Ginny would understand and keep the owl. Potions supplies was another thing, he wasn't bad a potions, his OWLs proved that, well, would anyway, but it was the only thing he could practice without magic, and for the time being it would have to do.

The most important thing he wanted to purchase was a second wand, he had been practically defenceless when his broke, he may not be able to find a wand which suited him as well as his phoenix one, but having a second one, just in case, would no doubt be money well spent. He'd have to get Ginny two wands, she was still using her grandmothers, it worked for her, but having to use one of the death eaters wands 'last year' had been frustrating. No doubt it would be a big improvement for her.

Running his hand through his hair, getting out to buy half this stuff would be difficult, not to mention he'd need to bring Ginny on one of the trips. And then he would have to do something about both there appearances, he couldn't perform a glamour charm now, not here, not to mention he was far to recognisable, Diagon Alley would be its old self, no buildings destroyed, no one forced to beg just to survive, the crowds would be back. The chance of running into an order member was too great, not to mention the Daily Prophet was printing he was a delusional brat, he couldn't walk into the alley and buy all those items without raising suspicion.

He could go to muggle areas though, wizards tended to keep to themselves; he could go shopping easily, just had to sneak past the guard with his invisibility cloak and to the local train station. Getting money to buy anything was the problem, visit Gringotts early morning when they just opened to miss the crowds, use his invisibility cloak, the goblins kept their dealings to themselves, so it was safe to assume he could manage. Not exactly like he had much of a choice, he needed to buy food as well, not much, but enough to stop him losing too much weight due to the Dursleys starvation attempts. However, writing down a plan on how to slip by the guards was not something he was stupid enough to do.

After being on the run for over a year, sneaking around became second nature to him, he couldn't cast a silencing charm on his feet, but he would manage. At least Moody was never put on his guard, which would have caused problems, however the paranoid auror was used for more serious missions, keeping a teenager inside some wards was not something he'd do. Dumbledore may have claimed it was for his protection from Death Eaters, but one guard wouldn't stand a chance if they made it through the wards, even so, he couldn't help but groan at how gullible he'd been in the past, now future, he was being kept in. Dumbledore had never trusted him completely, he meant well, but failed to see the effect he had on the people involved in his manipulations. He knew everything now, but it didn't make things any easier, the last time he'd seen Dumbledore was at the funeral, the day he 'broke up' with Ginny, one of the worst decisions he had ever come to make. He had good reasons, good intensions, but they didn't stop Voldemort; they never would, and separating from her, even when he had Ron and Hermione, had almost killed him.

The loss of his two closest friends had been a huge blow, when Voldemort found out what they were doing, Ginny wouldn't let go of him, he'd been in a daze, but they'd run, he apparated her back to the Forest of Dean. Back then they didn't even have a tent, the pink bag destroyed, along with most of his most precious belongings, it rained that day, he just clung to her, like a lifeline. That was when things got really bad, when they started researching time travel. Eventually Voldemort split his soul again,_ repeatedly_, he was far beyond human, and they couldn't stop him, he hid more, put them where they could never retrieve them.

Resting his head on the desk, he fell into a fitful slumber, his body tired and hungry, but he couldn't do anything until he found what date it was. No doubt his uncle would not take kindly to him leaving the house without completing his chores, but as long as he wasn't locked in the room again he'd manage. They did allow him some freedom, and his chores had decreased when they found out who his Godfather was, once he was finished he could walk to the park, wonder the streets, as long as he was back before Dudley. Not difficult really, Dudley always came back drunk now, out with his gang, but off course, not ruining his 'diet'. If he ever came back in _that_ state, he would be thrown out. His Aunt turned a blind eye, her Didlikins could do no wrong, biggest case of denial he'd ever witnessed, Dudley was always just a little _tired_.

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Beep, beep, beep, beep…

Lifting his head he turned to stare at the alarm clock, it wasn't far past 8 in the morning, at least he didn't have to cook breakfast anymore, but a small piece of grapefruit because of Dudley's diet wasn't terribly appealing either. Craning his neck, falling asleep in that position hadn't done anything for his muscles, reaching out he switched the clock off, he'd need to start getting up even earlier if he wished to achieve his plan, there were still a lot of kinks to work out though. The order members' probably didn't expect him to plan an escape _and return_, but explaining how he got all the new clothes would be difficult, and he needed to go to Diagon Alley in disguise.

Another thing Harry wanted to change was his glasses, he was virtually blind when they were removed, broken or covered in god knows what. Muggle contacts would do for the holiday until he could go to Diagon Alley and get magical ones. Besides, his old glasses hadn't been made specifically for him, they just magnified everything, and anything which could help him in a duel was vital.

He wanted to fight this time round, not just run, the order fell apart after the death of Dumbledore, but even now, when he was alive, they didn't fight. Just guard and attempt to prevent Voldemort from gaining too many allies, they knew the names of most death eaters because of Snape, but never made any attempt to stop them. When Diagon Alley was attacked they reacted, but not many fought. When the ministry was infiltrated they watched, sure you couldn't always tell who was under the imperius, but there were signs. The fact that Azkaban came under his control didn't help; those who were caught were thrown in there, only to leave not long after, for the wizarding world who prized themselves of being above muggles, they had major problems. Problems the muggle governments would _not_ be stupid enough to ignore or overlook.

He could hardly open a jail though, but sending caught Death Eaters to other wizarding governments would be an improvement, like France or Spain. Voldemort based himself in Britain, and although he gathered followers from all over the world, his main influence was Britain. Harry wanted to put up some resistance, organise counter attacks, they would be enough to slow him down, not stop him, but it would reduce the death toll. Too many muggles and wizards died simply because they were in the way. However, discovering the Dark Lords plots beforehand was no easy feat, spies would be needed. Snape may have been cold and infuriating, but his life held no joy, he shielded Harry with his life, and despite their differences he'd come to respect him, well, his memory at the time. Keeping the same open minded view of Snape was not going to be easy, but no one should have been forced into _that_ position, Snapes life suffered at the hands of Dumbledore's and Voldemort's manipulations, almost as much as his had. Snape made one wrong decision and was trapped.

Giving a mental shake, Harry forced himself to his feet and headed down for his pitiful breakfast, he ate better when they were on the run.

Walking into the kitchen he sat at his usual position, breakfast sitting out as he entered, receiving a glare from his Aunt, _some things never change, _at least he knew noting useful was in the paper this time round. Slowly spooning the sour fruit into his mouth he squinted at the paper, he could just make out the date, 7th of July printed next to a headline proclaiming another celebrity who had fallen foul of a drink addiction. _I have three weeks to sort everything out without Dumbledores watchful eye._ Harry could leave Hogwarts by apparation, but until he got a wand without a trace it wasn't an option, Fudge would have a field day should he find out what he was up to.

Placing his dishes in the sink he picked up the list of chores he had for the day and wandered back upstairs. Looking at the neat script of his Aunt, hopefully the stuff wouldn't take too long.

_Paint the garden bench_

_Weed the garden_

_Wash the car_

_Do the laundry_

_Hoover the living room, dinning room and bedrooms_

Great, he was stuck doing the same tasks as the first time round, at least it wouldn't take too long to complete, _why_ his Aunt insisted he weed and vacuum everyday was ridiculous. At least she wouldn't notice should he miss the odd one, Aunt Petunia spent to much time gossiping and spying on the neighbours to pay him any heed. Muttering under his breath, he might as well get started.

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Sitting on the swing, it was not far past 2 o'clock when he finished all his chores, at least at the park there was shade. The heat wave was back in full force, the stifling heat making him slightly lightheaded. The park was reasonably empty, too warm for the normal hoards of kids to run about for any length of time, the only thing he really wanted was a drink, and a half decent meal. Lunch consisted of a cheese sandwich and a glass of water, not exactly filling or appetising, but he was brought up never to be fussy with food. There was a local shop just round the corner, it wasn't going to sell meals, but the basics were there, breakfast items and breads, along with plenty of junk food.

Scanning the surrounding area, he had no money on hand so until tomorrow, when he left to put the first part of his plan into motion, he could do nothing. The immediate area _did_ appear to be empty, no point straining his ears either; his 'guard' would have placed a silencing charm on their feet. He suspected it was Tonks shift just now as something bashed off the slide 5 mintes earlier, he really couldn't believe how he missed the signs the first time round, just walking to the park someone invisible fell on a hedge in front of him. Of course, he kept his head down, no point letting them know he was on to them; closer scrutiny was the last thing he needed now. Come seven in the morning he was off to Diagon Alley.

That night, Harry set his alarm clock for 6:30AM, he wasn't a morning person, but he wanted to start getting up early to go running soon. Getting in better shape would be a big help when duelling. Focusing on clearing his mind before collapsing asleep, time to start raising his shields.

A/N: Well this is my second fanfiction, I always like time travel fics x) anyway, don't bother asking me how they travelled back in time, frankly I plain don't know. Something to do with runes and time turners sounds plausible enough for me. I'm thinking of writing an alternative dimension fanfic but I always struggle to keep going with a story, to tempting to ignore the plot I've set out for myself and go off in some tangent.

I've done my best with spelling and grammar but there may still be some mistakes, especially when it comes to spells and wizarding things, I've double checked all of them but I may have missed the odd one.


	2. Shopping

Disclaimer: I do not own J K Rowling's characters or plots.

Chapter 2: Shopping Trip

Beep, beep, beep, beep…

_How I hate that alarm clock. _Sighing wearily at the time written on the clock front in glowing red letters, Harry slowly pushed himself up out of bed, sometimes it really was just too early in the morning to be doing anything. At least it was light outside, the birds could be heard chirping away and Hedwig was perched in the corner of his room, her beautiful amber eyes shut as she slept on. He never really appreciated how much he'd missed her until she was with him again, somehow he got the feeling he'd be buying her a few new luxuries as well, a new enlarged cage, plenty of owl treats and a much nicer looking perch for her to sit on when they were here. Spoiling her was something he just couldn't resist at this point in time.

Opening his trunk in search of clean, half decent looking clothes, he hastily put on some on. Stowing his wand in his back pocket and placing all of his remaining Galleons and vault key in an oversized jacket, Harry throw the invisibility cloak over himself. Pushing open the door, taking care not to let it creak and slowly making it down the stairs as quietly as possible, Harry stood beside the backdoor, his aunt always put the rubbish in the bin at exactly 7 o'clock every morning. Watching as his aunt appears just on time, as always, Harry slips out behind her before the door had a chance to shut. Carefully making his way along the path he walked onto the middle of the road and headed towards the end of Privet Drive, it wouldn't do him any good to walk along the pavement and walk straight into the other invisible person, _that_ would be disastrous.

Two streets away from Privet Drive Harry picked up his pace, not so careful on silencing his footsteps, the streets just now were deserted; come 8 and the morning rush hour would begin. Walking under a cloak was not easy, but the stifling heat of the day was yet to pick up. Pulling the cloak of 15 minutes later he quickly boarded a train to London, Harry only planned on going a few stops and then getting the Knight Bus to drop him off at the Leaky Caldron, at least then if anyone checked the logs no one would have boarded from within the wards. If they realised he was missing he wouldn't be hard to follow, there weren't many travel options after all, just check the muggle cameras, at least the Death Eaters didn't monitor muggle transport, such things were beneath them.

Getting off three stops later and relieved when no one came to check on his non existent ticket, (having no money to purchase a train ticket) Harry strode back out into the streets of the unfamiliar neighbourhood, scanning the area for somewhere to summon the Knight Bus. Making his way down a deserted alley he pulled out his wand after flattening his fringe down and getting the money he needed on hand, last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself. BANG!

''Good day there sir and welcome to the Knight Bus –''

Quickly shoving past the middle aged conductor with light brown hair, he thrust the money into his hand and told him his destination before retreating upstairs. It was rude but he didn't want to give him a good look at his face, the three other customers had barely looked up at him, this was what people called 'common pureblood behaviour' no one paid it any notice. Looking around, the Knight Bus was full of chairs instead of beds, he'd been slightly surprised not to see Stan but figured the must work the night shift, at least the poor bloke hadn't been arrested pointlessly, _yet_. Sitting himself in one of the many armchairs, wizards really did travel strangely, even after seven years of exposure to it.

It was ten minutes later when Harry gladly got of the bus, he'd been thrown from his seat three times landing ungracefully on the floor, he'd just been glad to be the only one upstairs at the time. Quickly rushing thought the Leaky Caldron without giving Tom a chance to sell him anything he pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks accordingly. After getting over the initial shock of seeing the alley again, bright and full of shops, he stepped through, there were only a few people walking about but no doubt would be packed later in the day.

Eventually he made it up the steps of the brilliant white marble building and through the doors. Just walking thought he could remember his last visit where he'd stole the cup and escaped on a dragon, blinking repeatedly, it reminded him of his time with Ron and Hermione, before they died, not a fun time but not something he would ever forget. They were alive now, none the wiser to what the future could hold, to busy trying to eavesdrop on order meetings to no avail. With a small smile on his face he approached the first desk with a goblin.

"I'd like to visit my vault today." Harry said politely. The goblin looked down his nose at him, vaguely reminding him of Snape.

"Do you have your key?" it sneered.

Pulling out his key he quickly handed it over to the goblin, it scrutinised it for a minute before calling out. "Gidhound, take Mr Potter down to his vault!"

Jumping slightly at the sudden outburst, Harry turned to follow the approaching goblin, the two other customers present in the bank moved away from him as if he had a disease, not that he could blame them, the Daily Prophet hardly printed him in a positive light, people really had to learn not to take everything in the paper at face level.

Getting into a cart with Gidhound, he held on to the bars as the cart shot off, it wasn't that bad but not a form of transport he'd make a habit of. Entering the vault he quickly started filling it with as many gold coins as he could reach, once he placed close to 2 thousand galleons in he shut the bag and put it back in his pocket. He loved magic, the bag appeared no fuller, or heavier, but the weight it could have become with the amount of gold _would_ have been too much to carry. After a short journey back to the surface he thanked the goblin and made his way to the exchange desk.

Thankfully the bank was still mostly empty, a family were being served and there were a few other people but still no one he recognised.

Adressing the goblin "Excuse me, but what is the exchange rate for Galleons to muggle money today?"

"Today…the exchange rate it at 4.964pounds to the Galleon."

He needed a whole knew wardrobe, plus money to buy food for about a month.

"I'd like to exchange 250 Galleons to pounds then please." He started counting the gold coins as he said this, once 250 Galleons were placed in front of the glaring goblin, it pulled them towards a till-like looking device and pulled out a pile of muggle 20 and 10 pound notes, some pound coins and a few coins in change.

"Here, £1,116.90 with the standard 10 percent exchange rate, enjoy your day."

Putting the money into an old wallet of Dudleys, his cousin had broken the place to hold cards but otherwise it was fine. Once all the money was away he went off out into Diagon Alley, he had to be careful not to let anyone see how many notes were in the wallet, that would draw all to much unwanted attention to him.

He only had one stop to make today in magical London, he couldn't afford to wonder round constantly recognised, and it was to a trunk selling shop. He wanted to buy a lot of stuff and a new trunk would be more than useful, entering the shop 'Magical Trunks and Bags' the bell tinkered as he stepped in.

"Hello there and how can I help-" The shop assistant, a pretty blond witch with brown eyes and black working cloak stopped mid sentence after catching sight of him, he eyes flickered noticeably towards his scar before continuing on, her voice a few notes higher than a few seconds before "...you sir."

"I'm looking to buy a new trunk, preferably one with several compartments, and I've seen one with a room in it before, is that something you sell here?" He kept his tone polite, trying to stop himself from flattening his fringe more in a useless effort to stop her staring, Ginny would be silently laughing if she saw this.

She gave a brief smile "Yes Mr Potter, we have several trunks with rooms in them, each one of them is different, would you like to see some of them?" If anything, he was just glad the Potters were known as a wealthy family, it prevented him having to beat about the bush when it came to buying expensive items, he just hoped she wouldn't gossip too much, or people simply wouldn't believe her, he didn't need the order trying to check up on him.

Terry, according to her name tag, proceeded to show him 11 magical trunks. Picking out the one containing four magical rooms and four storage compartments he decided to purchase it with a shrinking charm, feather light charm and anti-damage charm applied. The four rooms were empty except for the bathroom, which was plain white tiled with a toilet, sink and shower, at least this way he could decorate his rooms. He planned on having a bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen, each room was fairy large, a lot bigger than his room at the Dursleys that was for sure. He would come back and buy Ginny's trunk another day, one purchase would draw enough attention to himself, his visit would become a rumour no doubt.

Paying 495 Galleons for the trunk, he hastily exited the shop. The alley was slowly filling up; steady trickles of people were moving about on the main street now. Slipping into a small alcove, he pulled out the invisibility cloak and throw it over himself, he had to be careful not to bang into anyone but at least he didn't have to worry about staying silent.

Twenty slow minutes later he rushed out the shutting door of the Leaky Cauldron. He had to stand for five minutes before someone came in, _still, it could have taken a lot longer. _Walking towards the crowds in the distance, shops were no doubt there. Scrutinising the area, he shoved his cloak back into his over sized jacket and started down the street, wizards, _especially_ pure bloods, stayed away from muggle areas so the chance of running into a Death Eater was blissfully low.

A smile broke his face as he entered the first clothes shop which caught his attention, finally he could get rid of his Dudley's hideous stuff, something he hadn't managed on the original timeline.

An hour and a half and several shops later Harry had managed to purchase several pairs of jeans, running trousers and smart black trousers, along with some shirts, T-shirts and jumpers. Some running shoes, black smart shoes and trainers, a new water proof jacket, along with all the basics. He had been in a bit of a rush but with embarrassing help from several shop assistants, which spent a great deal of time giggling, he had managed to get clothes which actually, _apparently_, looked great on him.

Walking into an Italian restaurant, he ordered a chicken and pasta dish for an early lunch, having missed breakfast, or indeed any proper food in ages, he dug in with gusto, not terribly bothered he was eating at a restaurant by himself. At least he didn't need to carry any shopping bags, having placed them in his trunk, he'd shop for furniture later, probably with Gin when he got to Hogwarts, or could escape Grimmauld Place. At least decorating wasn't an urgent goal for the time being, and would be something to distract him throughout the year, he was pretty much spending the whole year revising and 'studying' for OWLS, while secretly training. They couldn't slip away too much, but with any luck Ron wouldn't notice them both disappearing at the same time for a while, the same could not be said for Hermione however, but the unnatural amount of time she spent in the library could be used to their advantage. One thing he would certainly enjoy would be improving at potions, he'd got an exceeded expectations so he wasn't nearly as bad as Snape made him out to be, getting competitive with Hermione would be amusing to watch as well. Of course, he was going to take up his marauder title when it came to Umbridge, DADA would be a waste of time, but some well placed pranks alongside the twins would be something to look forward too. He still couldn't believe she had bought the locket, he'd never forget the incident at the ministry, or what she'd done with Moody's eye, some people where just plain sick.

Polishing off the meal, he paid and headed of towards the nearest super market. Sainsburys wasn't exactly cheap, especially in the middle of London, but he got enough food to last a fair few days. He couldn't buy anything which required a fridge or equivalent freezing charm yet, but he got plenty of breads and fruit, cereal, baked goods, tins of soups and snacks. He didn't have a cooker, but he could manage dodging round the Dursleys without too much difficulty. Along with toilet paper, toothpaste… and he got temporary hair dye, brown; it took 6 washes to come out, but would help disguise him. He planned on getting colour contact lenses and he'd booked an appointment to get his eyes checked in three days, hopefully it would throw most people off his trail, and if someone cast _finite incantatum_ it would have no effect.

Placing all his stuff in his new trunk he couldn't help but admire it, it was made of smooth mahogany wood which had been polished up nicely; his old trunk looked like a lump of wood compared to it. It had a small pattern of leaves chiselled into the outside, with a bronze plate in the centre in the shape of a dragon which he needed to tap to enlarge and shrink. Heading towards the train station, it would be about one thirty by the time he made it back to his 'home.' In time enough to do his lovely list of chores his relatives had left him, he just dreaded the inevitable explosion he would get when his uncle came back, it would probably mean the loss of meals, but that didn't matter for the time being, as long as he wasn't locked in his room.

Creeping back under his invisibility cloak, he managed to make it by his invisible guard without knocking into them, and in the back door, the heat of the day had picked up yet again and the doors and windows had been left open, a rather ineffective method of cooling the house. Reaching his room he put his shrunk trunk on his bedside table and went to the kitchen for the chore list. Apart from the slight surprised look which crossed his Aunts face when he walked past her, she showed no inclination that he had reappeared, clearly choosing just to ignore the incident for the time being. _If there's one thing I'm glad about, at least I have sun tan lotion this time round._ That was one thing he would _not_ use sparingly while being forced to work in the sun for a few hours painting the fence. Even so, he struggled to ignore the distinct smell of alcohol, specifically firewhisky, drifting off his guard, who quite frankly was standing too close for comfort, even if he couldn't see him. It kept causing his mind to drift to the order, so many of them had died the first time round, _that_ would change. No doubt who today's guard was, maybe Tonks would be on tomorrow, he never even got the chance to meet his godson the first time, now Teddy hadn't even been born yet.

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The explosion which did occur from his Uncle Vernon was not nearly as bad as expected, his uncle screamed practically spitting all over him, but apparently was not aware that he had left, only that he refused to get up in the morning to eat his 'breakfast.' His Aunt didn't even bother to correct him, the explosion if his uncle discovered he'd left in some _freakish_ manner would be far worse, but the half hour lecture on how he wastes good food was ridiculous, _he hardly got any food_, and Dudley probably ate what little grapefruit they decided to spare him.

The only thing which kept him from yelling back was the chance to take a nice long shower, he hated to think what the people from his uncle's work had to put up with. He wasn't locked in but whatever salad based dinner he was going to receive was denied. Not that Harry really cared, he had better food just sitting in his trunk, and plenty of juice, he just had to remember to buy cutlery and what not next time he left the house. Vaguely he wondered how Ginny was getting on, at least he could do something, she was stuck cleaning and he knew that would _not_ be appreciated by her, the amount of cleaning he had to do the first time round just plain wasn't worth it. He just hoped her plan of getting their own rooms would work. There were more than enough rooms in the house for them all, but the time needed to clean them was what put most people off, not to mention Dumbledore wanted to watch him with that picture, hopefully he could avoid that, he wanted to be able to speak freely in his room. Or at least chuck the painting out under the pretence that he didn't like it. The headmaster mostly ignored him this year, so with any luck he'd be left to his own devices, and give Sirius a better life this time around. Why didn't they let him borrow a wand, cast a glamour, and buy a wand for himself? He had loads of money, and currently the only other person with access to the vault was in Azkaban, he could get what he needed, buy polyjuice potion from Knockturn Alley and help the order. Its not like standing under an invisibility cloak would expose him. That's what the order spent half their time doing, what was so difficult about that? He could even guard him, no doubt it would brighten his days, Sirius would probably try prank him or something.

Heading into his trunk, tomorrow he would start running in the morning, for now he'd have his dinner and a very long nice shower.

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Ginny sighed looking around her 'new' room, she'd awoken back in time in this old dark room, really they needed to work out how to open the window, she'd forgotten how bad it smelled from years of neglect. She wished she could send a letter to Harry, but explaining why she was contacting him would be irritating, still, she wasn't a Weasley for nothing. Time to drop the bomb on her mum of who was funding the twins, no doubt his exploit would be mentioned in passing to the order members, she remembered the first time round when no one understood how they got up and running, people thought Bagman had finally paid them, no matter how unreliable that man really was.

She could apparate but with her current wand she would be detected, not to mention the constant stream of people entering and exiting the building, at least she wouldn't waste her time listening in to the order meeting. If anything, it would give her time to look through the library and search for useful spells. Truth be told, the vast majority of the Black Library contained books on dark magic, but there was the occasional ancient tome on DADAs she could use. Maybe she'd find Sirius's old books on animangi, wouldn't hurt to hope, she wasn't terribly happy that Harry was spending his money on her, but she couldn't deny his logic. If it cost him every galleon he would give all his money away just to save a life. She wasn't as touchy as her brother, if it helped them to survive then it was invaluable. Hopefully all her brothers would survive now.

Currently she'd only saved up 12 galleons for the next school year, if she could steal Pig she'd be able to purchase her own owl or something. Before Harry bought her one, it would be another three days until Hermione arrived at headquarters, three days to get her own room. At least she could try convince Sirius to give Harry his own room, give it to him as a birthday present or something, he'd been complaining about not getting out to get Harry something all day. She didn't want to remember the uproar that happened when Harry had the underage magic trial to go to, with any luck they'd manage to avoid the entire incident as well.

Walking into Ron's room she looked at Pig, sleeping for once, at east that meant he wasn't hard to catch, she loved the little hyperactive owl but he _really_ could get on your nerves if he flew round your head for hours. And Arnold, her pygmypuff, hadn't even been invented yet.

Attaching a quickly scrawled letter, hopefully Diagon Alley would have a catalogue or something of their owls. She adored snowy owls, but a nice brown owl would do.

A/N: Second chapter finished! :) I know not much is happening yet, action won't start for a bit but I'm getting there, still working on the spelling, I've looked this chapter over a few times but no doubt I've missed something. I'm aware that neither character is grieving over there friends deaths much, I'll touch on it more later, I just find it too depressing if it's mentioned too often x)


	3. New Wand

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters or plots, it all belongs to J K Rowling.

A/N: Another update! I'll warn everyone now that I'm never going to be consistent in update times, sorta writing 4 stories all at the same time, just switch between each one as I suffer from writers block x) works well enough I suppose.

OH! And thanks for the reviews everyone :P

Chapter 3: New Wand

Sitting on the floor with a bowl of cereal, having stolen a bowl and some milk from downstairs, Harry couldn't keep the smile of his face. He'd gotten up at seven in the morning, an indecent hour for someone on their summer holiday, to go for a run, but in truth, the morning proved to be a day he wasn't going to forget soon.

First it started when he wore his knew clothes, just sportswear, and headed downstairs to go out the backdoor. Sometimes he wished he'd remembered even to buy a muggle camera, Aunt Petunia, normally so uptight and shrill stared dumbly at him and dropped her _precious _china plates to the floor while preparing breakfast, but that was nothing to the fun he had with his guard.

Not even to the end of the block and it became clear that Tonks was following him, _honestly_, knocking two bins over and a few choice curse word made it all to obvious, of course he didn't bother to turn round, but with her clumsy nature, running under an invisibility cloak did not come naturally.

Making it to the park he couldn't resist vaulting the fence, sure he wasn't used to running, getting to the park took its toll, but he was determined to run for 45 miutes every morning and start building up from there. The unmistakable noise of someone crashing to the ground more than spurred him on. Shaking his head as he poured more cereal into the bowl.

Tonks had given up at some point though, the various crashes stopped and making it back to number four, all was quiet. Walking back to his room he had a very long shower. The running had really taken it out of him, normally quidditch kept his fitness levels up, but his forth year quidditch had been cancelled, it seemed a million miles away to be honest. It became very clear that he wasn't going to get in shape very quickly either, but at least he had a decent supply of food, once he got the kitchen sorted he could start making proper meals.

Finishing off his breakfast he pulled out some parchment and quills, he wanted his school work out the way soon, it really wasn't something he wanted to be stuck doing, and such a waste of time, _not to mention a test on my memory. _Looking over transfiguration he started to scratch away.

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Sharp brown eyes watched the proceedings of dinner at Grimmauld Place, her mother bustling about with various pots and pans. It all seemed so surreal sometimes, to see them all, well except Percy, happy. She knew she was getting some odd looks every now and again, just yesterday she had fled out the room before she burst into tears. _Not _something she did often that was for sure, they put it down to her first year, but in truth, they had no idea how much her life had been touched by Tom. The desire just to tell everyone everything became overwhelming at times, the lack of anyone to talk to was getting to her, although whenever Tonks was round she did her best to cheer her up. What was she supposed to do all day when she was surrounded by her brothers? She smiled at the thought of Harry, the daily updates were turning out to be quite interesting. Especially the tail of this morning, never before had she seen Tonks rant on and on about insane teenage boys and their hobbies, a good laugh really lightened the atmosphere. She couldn't help get the feeling a good proportion of order meetings turned into gossip, and with Dumbledores interest in Harry, it was bound to be brought up.

Turning towards Sirius, anyone who was looking closely at Ginny Weasley would have seen a mischievous glint come into her eyes, time to get their own rooms.

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Beep, beep, beep, beep…

Sitting up he could feel his muscles protesting, he definetly needed to improve his fitness. Changing to go out on his run again, he was going to have a very long hot shower after today's activities, because hell was he paying for it. Another morning run to keep up appearances, then of out again.

Finishing his chores for the day not far past eleven in the morning he ignored the plain sandwich his aunt left out for him in favour of some food from the corner store. Eating as he made his way home, he changed, chucking the invisibility cloak over himself and headed towards the train station. He had an optician appointment to get to, and get his hair cut, finding someplace to dye his hair would be a problem. His trunk looked quite expensive and leaving it on the ground in some alley while he had a shower wasn't the best idea, what if someone tried to steal it? Shaking his head, he would solve that problem when it came to it.

Two hours worth of train ride later; having been thoroughly ripped off by the ticket guy, he was back upon the street he visited the first time round. Harry could have taken the Knight Bus but he was tempting fate enough as it was.

Brushing his hair down across his scar he walked into the optician, there was _no way_ the glasses he had on suited his prescription. Greeted by a middle aged man after ten minutes in the waiting room he sat in front of the many charts, this hopefully wouldn't take to long. For once luck was on his side, half an hour later he could be found trying on pair after pair of glasses, trying to see what suited him best. Eventually he settled on black metal glasses, similar to the ones he had on but not as large or round, overall, they were a vast improvement. Paying for the glasses and the two types on contacts _and_ after bribing the guy behind the counter one hundred pounds, he was told to come back in two hours to have them fitted.

One task accomplished, he started towards the nearest hair salon.

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A lone figure could be seen making their way up Knockturn Alley, hood drawn, head tilted down obscuring their face. Harry had to fight to keep the grin of his face, his now brown eyes lit with amusement, _oh if the order could see me now_. He had had his hair cut a lot shorter at the sides but left most of it a reasonable length, along with making sure his fringe still covered his scar easily. It was the first time he'd had his hair cut in years, he must have kept it subconsciously at the length he wanted, although it was another thing to look up once he got his hands on plenty of new books.

Plastering a sneer onto his face and discreetly holding his wand tightly in his pocket he walked into a sinister looking store, the inside was bathed in dim candlelight, shrouded by darkness his eyes fell on a shady figure standing in the shadows behind a huge oak desk. Striding forward with more confidence than he felt he addressed the person. Leaning forward in what he hoped was a threatening manner, much like Snape used in his classes he started in a low voice. "I'm looking to purchase a wand, _an untracked wand_."

The mans eyes lit with greed, laced with suspicion. Not shifting under the blood shot blue eyes Harry stood. No doubt the high quality of his travel cloak and the slight chink of coins were taken note of. He had bought the cloak in the first clothes shop he came to in Diagon Alley, walking up Knockturn Alley in muggle clothing _would_ have been suicide.

"Right this way sir." A low rusty voice broke Harry out his thoughts. The man took his wand out and started murmuring words under his breath, not long later a door appeared, leaving the legal wands behind Harry walked into the second room. It was dark; keeping his eyes on the man in front he stood stiffly off to the side, scanning the small room in what he hoped was a discreet way. Boxes of wands were stacked, coated in dust, covering almost all the wall space, along with books which appeared to hold nothing but black magic. Tilting his head towards the man, he started pulling wands out and handing them to him. Much like the last time, wand after wand failed, destroying the odd things here and there, and one leaving a huge burn in the opposite wall. Finally he grasped a wand in his hand and felt the tell tale tingle of magic, sweeping it down gold sparks alight the immediate area. "Holly and Threasal Hair, eight inches, one of the more unusual combinations" he sneered, following back to the front of the store he waited for the inevitable. "150 Galleons kid." Snorting, he really couldn't help it, new to this he may be but stupid he was not. "I'll give you 50galleons."

The man glared at him, eyes assessing his every movement. "You wreaked three very rare books, 125 Galleons."

"Yes, three _illegal_ books, and hardly rare, 75 Galleons."

The man muttered under his breath, the smell of alcohol reaching Harry who tried not to gag. "80 Galleons and that's final."

Finally snapping "Fine." _close enough._ Hastily pulling out 80 Galleons and shoving them on the counter, Harry picked up the case containing his new wand and left the shop. He'd still been ripped off, _for the second time today_, but it was one problem down. Breathing in the now fresh air he decided to look around.

Casting a glamour charm to hide his scar and make his cheekbones more pronounced he looked up and down the street; it was just after three in the afternoon and the sun was out, along with the blistering heat. Spying a book shop which didn't seem as dark as two others he'd passed Harry walked in. Animagus books were monitored by the ministry and he had no intension of drawing their attention. Looking round the many shelves, books on everything from borderline dark to children fairytales were stacked upon shelf after shelf, picking up books on animagus, which consisted of quite a few, along with an animal encyclopaedia, a few potions and defence books, he paid and left the shop. Flicking through the first book he found the instructions for the potion he required to find his form, knowing from the start that some of the ingredients were illegal or monitored he would need to make a journey to the rather dank, sickly smelling shop on the corner. Even walking closer he had no desire to stay longer than necessary, dead animals and beetles could be seen along with crates of ingredients displaying various 'herbs'_ yeah, right, like they atually contain herbs. _

Pulling the huge cloak off after re-entering Diagon Alley Harry grinned, he had more spare time now that he could apperate freely. First thing, robe shopping, he needed a full wizard wardrobe; _this_ was going to take a while. Stopping for a quick bite to eat he went along Diagon alley, buying yet more books, enough for a small library, four wand holsters, a trunk for Ginny, beach (wood), with the symbol of a unicorn instead of a dragon, and at last, a magical camera. As promised, he bought a sleek new perch, top quality owl treats and a cage that when Hedwig entered, would contain a magically expanded area, about four by four feet from what he could tell.

After purchasing four times the normal amount of basic potion ingredients, Harry just ignored the raised eyebrow of the shop owner to head to the last stop of the day. Furnish and Floors was a large shop he'd never had the need to enter before, it was approaching six so it wouldn't be open long, he just wanted to purchase the kitchen today, proper food was a luxury he hadn't had in a while in either timelines. "And what can I do for you dear?" A kindly old woman asked, looking at her she vaguely reminded him of Mrs Weasley with her kind voice. "I'm looking to purchase a kitchen, cooker and magical utensils." Harry replied.

"Your looking to buy a whole kitchen? As in a cooker, counters, kettle…?" She sounded quite surprised; then again, he did look about thirteen years old. Not a teenager's everyday activity then. "Yes mam, I have plenty of Galleons with me." After that she led him of towards the kitchen section. Magical kitchens were a lot more flexible than normal ones, surfaces which cleaned themselves, knifes that cut food, sinks which washed the dishes automatically. Harry was stunned, he had only a vague idea of what he was looking for, mostly white cabinets with a black marble work surface and a white sink. That's were Dena, the assistant, became a godsend. Leaving the store over 600 Galleons lighter he was armed with everything he could ever need, plus a few extras.

He had kept to a black, green and white colour scheme for his kitchen, tiles for the floor; they were black with white specks which moved about, reminding him of the stars, self cleaning charms applied. The cabinets where white stone, expanded on the inside, and the black marble on top, a black and white stripped marble sink to match. A large white cooker to match the cabinets, green kettle, green toaster, pots and pans, green plates and silver cutlery. He also bought two house plants which were easy to keep.

Putting the furniture in his trunk, he'd sort and stick everything down later. With a grin on his face he walked to the apperation point and appearated to the train station he'd visited a few days ago. Rearranging his glamours so his hair was now black, the old length, and removing his contacts, another train ride and a short walk, he would be back at the Dursleys.

A/N: third chapter done :) I'm doing my best when I switch to Ginny's character but really I can't capture her personality well at all, especially when I look at stuff from her POV.


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